Watching business walk out the door

My partner and I went to Northampton, MA for New Year’s Eve yesterday. Why Northampton? Because we love walking around little towns with independent shops and talking to people. We hadn’t been in years (maybe a decade or more) and wanted to see how it changed. It was first night there and the streets were packed. There were volunteers from Northampton Community Farm who were seeking donations – for each $1 donated it becomes $3 (thanks to Easthampton Savings Bank and an anonymous donor) to purchase farmland. What a great idea and cause.

There were still quite a few independent businesses – some of them had closed early for New Years, which is a poor business decision. With thousands of people out, milling around with disposable income, keep your doors open!

We found a little restaurant that made their own pasta. I was in heaven! We were able to get one of the last tables without a reservation – close to the door so we had a birds eye view of traffic and conversations. As the restaurant filled up, people kept coming in. If they didn’t have a reservation, they were turned away. I watched as all that business walked out the door. Would they return? What would be their incentive? The restaurant should have been handing out coupons or certificates to get those folks back on a slow night (free appetizer during the week of . . . ) – something to get all that traffic back at another time.

The family (mom, boyfriend and mom’s pre-teen daughter) at the table next to us had an interesting conversation. The mom also noticed all the people being turned away and decided that next year she would make reservations at restaurants all over town and then sell them to turned away diners. Pretty distasteful – and she was trying to sell me on the idea. I didn’t want to spoil my evening so I didn’t engage. But I loved it when her daughter said: “Mom, it’s wrong.” She must get her values from her Dad!

Northampton had fireworks also – but they had them at 6:15 pm – in contrast to Saratoga’s midnight. It made for a great family event – the kids could watch the fireworks and be home in bed before the meltdowns started. Very smart.

On our way out of town, we found a great coffee shop, the Woodstar Cafe on Masonic Street – which we were really thankful for because we didn’t drive 1.5 hours to go to Starbucks!

Northampton is a great day trip. Lots of interesting shops and eateries for any budget, still very independent and very community and environmentally focused. It was a great way to close out 2010 and think about possibilities for 2011. Happy New Year!